Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, written by Linda Woolverton, and based on the French fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast". Produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, the film stars Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Michael Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith in his final film, and Jo Anne Worley. Set in 18th-century France, a selfish prince is cursed to remain a beast forever unless he can earn the love of a spirited young woman named Belle before the final petal falls from his enchanted rose.

Walt Disney had attempted to adapt "Beauty and the Beast" into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s. Inspired by the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), the studio enlisted Richard Purdum to adapt the fairy tale, which he originally conceived as a non-musical period drama. Dissatisfied with Purdum's efforts, Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered the entire film reworked into a musical with original songs by The Little Mermaid's songwriting team, lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. First-time directors Trousdale and Wise replaced Purdum, and Woolverton's involvement made Beauty and the Beast Disney's first animated film to utilize a completed screenplay prior to storyboarding. The film was the second fully made with Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), which enabled seamless blending of traditional and computer animation, particularly during its ballroom scene. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated to Ashman, who died from AIDS eight months before the film's release.